Latest Microphthalmia Stories

Promising target for the development of novel drugs With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. The results, published in the scientific journal "Genes & Development", throw new light on the workings of the so-called Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor MITF, that is not only connected to skin cancer, but also...

Scientists at University College Dublin, Ireland, have identified a genetic alteration which causes a child to be born with no eyes – a condition called anophthalmia. According to the findings published in the current issue (December 2011) of Human Mutation, a child's eyes will not develop fully in the womb if the child has alterations in both copies of its STRA6 gene which is responsible for transporting vitamin A into the cells. This new discovery means that scientists can now...